Locking device for cold storage vault doors



March 3, 1953 C, M, WELSHONS 2,630,004

LOCKING DEVICE FOR COLD STORAGE VAULT DOORS Filed 0G12. 8, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 JNVENTOR. ,CA @L o5 M WEL SHO/v5 ATTURWEY C. M. WELSHCN S LOCKING DEVICE FOR COLD STORAGE VAULT DOORS March 3, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 0G13. 8,` 195] .tv "liu" INVENTOR.

CA @L05 /l/l /fz/Emf/ONS BY M TTO/Q/VEY March 3, 1953 c. M. wELsHoNs LOCKING DEVICE FOR com STORAGE vAULT DooRs 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 8, 195] INVENTOR. www5 M WEL5H0/vs BY L'/17 M ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES ferner LOCKING DEVICE Fon coLD' STORAGE l VAULT nooRs v Carlo-SIM. Welshons, San Francisco, v`Calif. application october s, 1951, serial No. 250,590 1y claim. (o1. 'zo-isn The r'iverlmm relates' te cold" storage" venite i"a'nd more particularly" to a novel arrangement for'locking the door affording access tothe vault.

In present day practice `the door leading to the lvault usually locked by providing hasps on the vault withoutany chance of egress.

It is therefore an object of the invention to [Lprovidelocking means for a cold storage door whereby the door may be openedfrom the inside as well as lthe outsidato prevent a person from being trapped in the vault.

It is another object to provide a lock actuating ""ineans for a. vault door removed from the cold varea so as to prevent freezing'thereof.

VA further object constitutes the provision of insulating or packing material around the cylinH `der of' the lock to e'iectively obviate freezing thereof.

`An additional object constitutes the provision of the key actuatable part of a door lock in a wall removedfrom the 'door opening, which lock is adapted to secure the door in closed position Q .;and to beopened from the outside as well as the inside of the vault.

It is also an object to provide certain features n of construction of parts and arrangement thereof tending to increase the utility and eiiciency of a device of the character specied.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent from the disclosure of the invention, the latter comprises the means described in the specication, particularly pointed out in the claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cold storage vault in which the invention is incorporated.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-8 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 'l is a section on the line '1 -'.1 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the various views of the drawings,

i9 generally indicates a cold storage vault provided with a door opening I I (Fig. 3) and a door I2 mounted on hinges I3 and manipulated by a handle I4. The wall i5 of the vault is constructed of sdings I6, I1, and I8 and the interior :terial I 3.

of the wall is filled with granular insulation ma- A sponge rubber strip 20 on the wall I5 is contactedby the do`or`when 'in closed position and forms sealtight closure..

To the inside of'the door adjacent thefree ...edgel thereof is secured a strapZI byvscrews 22 ...(Fig. 6) and is provided with aperturedflanges 23 `and 244 (Fig. 7) to. ,'receive. therebetween a tubular casing 25 which is heldinsposition` by a square pintle 25 whoseendsiprotruding ,beyond the flanges are headed over., A1 springZ'I is secured at one endi 2`8'to the casing 25 and is coiled "around the' pintle 26.

A strap 29 extends from the casing 25 ,a short distance and 'has secured thereto a bar 30 by rivetsBI.

The bar 30 adjacent the free end is provided with an aperture 32 constituting a soclieiiand its terminal portion is bent 'as ,at 33 to.. facilitate turning of the bar' aboutthe pintle when so desired.

The siding I1 is cut awayas at. 3 4 ,a nd a strap 35 is secured to the jsidingIlby screwsl 3 6 and is bent over as at 31 ,(Fig. v3.).` tocontacttheouter edge of` saidsiding. Similarlythebar0 is bent Yover as at 38 to ride onthebent overporticn 31 of the strap 3l...1,By.this structure,-.when bar 30 isswung tojthe left (as seen .in Fig., 3); the ends 31, 38 will apply a leverage to the door to swing it open, and the inherent resiliency of the strap 35 will enable it to be restored to its present position when the door is closed.

The wall I5 is formed with a horizontal through-bore 39 a short distance from the free door edge to receive the key receiving part of the locking elements for the door. A cylinder lock 40 is inserted from the outside of wall I5 into the through-hole 39 until the face plate 4I bears on a washer 42 which surrounds the edge of the hole 39. The cylinder 43 in standard locks has apertured lugs 44 (Fig. 4) to receive the threaded ends of screws 45. A plastic tubular casing 46 surrounds the cylinder and provides a space 41 that is adapted to be filled with low temperature grease to form an air seal.

A plastic adapter 48 forms an extension of the casing 4B and has a reduced end 49 which enters the bore of the casing 45. The adapter 48 has two holes 50 which are reduced in diameter toward the lock cylinder to retain the screwheads in said adapter.

A tube 5i of plastic material forms the continuation of the adapter 4S and surrounds the reduced end 52 of said adapter.

Similarly a plastic adapter 53 forms the con- 3 tinuation of the tube 5I and enters the bore of the tube with a reduced end 54.

The adapters 48 and 53 are provided with three bores 55, 56, and 51' (Fig. 5). The bores 55 and 56 are in horizontal alignment, with the screws 45 and each receives a Wooden tie-rod 5B which stops short of the screw 45.

A vtransverse bore 59 extends through the adapter 48 and forms a groove in the tie-rods 5B permitting the introduction of a dowel pin 6U to secure the tie-rods to the adapter.

Similarly the adapter 53 receives the other ends of the tie-rods 58 which are secured to the adapter by the dowel pin 6|.

It is evident that the lock `Ml, casing 46, adapter 48, tube 5|, and adapter 53 when assembled form a unitary structure.

A night latch 62 of standard construction is installed at the inside of the wall l5 and is retained in position by screws 63 which enter the adapter 53.`

f The connecting bar connecting the lock and the night latch is in three aligned sections in Which the end sections are bars 64, 64 respecf tively at the lock and night latch and the central section is a wooden bar 65 into which the ends of the bars 64, 64 extend so that uponturning of the key the night latch is actuated. The night latch 62 is mounted on an end plate 66 and has of course the standard latch bar 67 to which is brazed or secured in any other approved or desired manner a bolt 68 which extends through a hole 69 in the Wall siding I1 constituting a guide 1 to enter the aperture 32 in bar 3D when the door is in closed position to keep it locked. If desired any other guiding means may be employed for the bolt.

From the foregoing it is obvious that ii by chance a persion is trapped in the vault he can open the door from the inside by manually swinging the end 33 of bar 3l] out of locking engagement with the bolt 68.

In assembling the locking device, the adapters and the plastic tubing are put together by the tie-rods and dowel pins and inserted through the hole 39 from the outside of wall l5 to extend about one-half inch from the inside of wall I5. Thereupon the end plate 66 is fastened to adapter 4 53 by the screws 63. Then the night latch is installed and bolt 68 is brazed to the latch bar 61.

In order to secure eicient locking means for the door without detrimental effects by low temperature the distance of the lock in the Wall from the door opening is an important factor. It has been found that for a room having zero temperature the distance from Ythe door opening should be equivalent to the insulating value of 6 inches of cork board and hence the lock should be installed six inchesV from the door opening if the insulation employed is cork board. If the insulating material is inferior to cork board in its heat insulating value, then the distance would be greater and if the material has better heat insulating properties, than cork board, then the distance would be less. The heat insulating property of cork board is employed in the trade as a standard measure.

I claim:

For use With a locking device comprising a lock and a night latch operatively connected by a connecting rod, a casing for said lock, an adapter secured to the lock and forming an extension of said casing, a tube forming a continuation of said adapter, and a second adapter forming an extension of said tube and having the night latch secured thereto, said casing,V tube and adapters being made of thermal non-conducting material.

CARLOS M. WELSHONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 336,358 Turman Feb. 16, 1886 I1:77,()36 Williams June 14, 1892 1,024,479 Voight Apr, 23, 1912 1,408,477 Schonwald Mar. 7, 1922 1,593,372 Thompson July 20, 1926 1,639,535 Russo Aug. 16, 1927 2,153,819 Van Voorhees Apr. 11, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,126 Great Britain July 22, 1905 

